These are
Father Joseph Fessio’s answers to a series of questions posed about Pope
Benedict XVI. They were answered on April 21, 2005, before he got on an airplane
to fly to Rome for the formal installation of Pope Benedict XVI.

You have
a long-standing relationship with Pope Benedict XVI. Can you describe when you
first met him?

Father
Fessio: I first met Fr. Joseph Ratzinger when I arrived in Regensburg, (then
West Germany) in the fall of 1972. I began my doctoral studies there and he was
my doctoral director.

How that
happened is a story in itself. I had begun my theological studies in France at
the Jesuit Theologate in Lyons. There I was befriended by Fr. Henri de Lubac,
S.J., a wonderful man of the Church and a renowned theologian. When the time
came for me to decide upon the subject for a doctorate I asked his advice.

He
immediately told me that I should do my doctorate on Fr. Hans Urs von Balthasar
whom he considered one of the greatest theologians of the era, if not all time.
When I asked him where I should do it he immediately said, “Go to Regensburg and
do it under Fr. Joseph Ratzinger; he’s a fine young theologian.”

Fr. de
Lubac graciously wrote to Fr. Ratzinger on my behalf and Fr. Ratzinger who was
not accepting many new graduate students since he had so many already, accepted
Fr.de Lubac’s recommendation.

Joseph
Ratzinger was then as he is now, a very quiet and gracious person, always
willing to listen; but when he speaks, he speaks with great clarity and depth of
understanding. Even then one felt a presence because of his goodness, his
openness, and his wisdom.

How has
your relationship continued through the years?

Father
Fessio: The doctoral students of Cardinal Ratzinger once they had received their
doctorates, found a Schulerkreis (or student circle) that had yearly meetings.
Those meetings were usually two to three days long, held at a monastery, and had
a specific theological topic and one or two invited speakers. We celebrated Mass
together, ate together, listened to lectures and Discussed them together. In the
evenings, we would often sit around a table and have conversation accompanied by
glasses of white wine.

In the
period 1987-1989, four priests, working with the then Cardinal Ratzinger,
planned and established the Association de Lubac, Speyr, von Balthasar whose
main work was a house of formation in Rome called Casa Balthasar. The four
priests were Fr. Jacques Servais, S.J. another Jesuit who remains rector of Casa
Balthasar, Fr. Mark Ouellet who is now the Cardinal Archbishop of Quebec, Fr.
Christoph Schonborn, OP who is now the Cardinal Archbishop of Vienna and
myself.

(Jesuits
are by rule required neither to seek nor to accept ecclesiastical preferment.
Fr. Servais and I did not seek any nor were any offered us!)

Once Casa
Balthasar was established, in 1989, we all met once a year to review the
progress and plan the coming year. This gave us an opportunity to spend some
time with Cardinal Ratzinger who would come to Casa Balthasar for a meeting,
dinner and recreation after dinner. I also had the occasion to visit him in his
apartment or in his office a number of times throughout the years.

How did
you choose to publish his works and why did he choose Ignatius Press to publish
so many of his works in English translation?

Father
Fessio: Ignatius Press was begun in 1978, with our first books published in
1979. The original intent was to make available in English the works of the
great contemporary Catholic theologians of Europe. We began with Louis Bouyer
and Hans Urs von Balthasar. We soon added Cardinal Ratzinger to our list of
authors. He very graciously accepted Ignatius Press as his English language
publisher.

What is
the impact of Urs von Balthasar on the new pope?

Father
Fessio: The reason Fr. de Lubac directed me towards Fr. Ratzinger to do my
dissertation on von Balthasar was that Fr. Ratzinger was both a personal friend
and a student of the works of von Balthasar. Certainly von Balthasar has had a
profound effect on Pope Benedict just as he has on any one who has spent time
studying his massive and rich corpus.

Which of
his works would you recommend to those wondering about the direction of Pope
Benedict XVI's papacy?

Father
Fessio: For those who would like an idea of the direction of this new papacy, I
would recommend starting with The Ratzinger Report. It was an interview he gave
to Vittorio Messori in 1985. Cardinal Ratzinger comments very openly there on
the strength and weaknesses of the Church at that time. Not too much has changed
except for the increase in enthusiasm generated by the vibrant papacy of John
Paul II; the major challenges remain.

What is
Pope Benedict XVI like as a person? What about his reputation as an “enforcer”?

Father
Fessio: As a person, Pope Benedict is courteous, kind, gracious, soft-spoken,
with an ever-present sense of humor and a twinkle in his eye. I’ve never heard
him express anger or raise his voice. He listens very attentively to people and
while clear and firm in his expression of the truths of the Catholic Faith, he
always speaks or writes with profound courtesy and respect. He has a reputation
as an enforcer because he had that task assigned to him. Even in treating
dissident theologians, he was always open and fair, thorough and objective.
Although there are still lingering complaints about the “secrecy” of the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, there is simply no basis for that.
The Congregation has worked with complete transparency. I can’t think of anyone
in the Vatican who has been more open to being interviewed or being questioned
on any topic than Cardinal Ratzinger. Of course, when he is obliged to tell
someone who considers himself a Catholic of good standing that what that person
is teaching or advocating is incompatible with Catholic truth, that is often not
well received. In trying to explain the hostility toward Cardinal Ratzinger, I
can only think that it is a projection of the anger of those who are being
corrected upon the one who has to administer the correction.

Comparisons will be inevitable with Pope John Paul II. Would you venture a
comparison and a few thoughts on the relationship between then-Cardinal
Ratzinger and Pope John Paul II?

Father
Fessio: Certainly Pope Benedict and Pope John Paul II were the closest of
collaborators. Pope John Paul II brought Cardinal Ratzinger to Rome in 1981 to
lead the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and he stayed there until he
was elected Pope in 2005. No other prefect of a Vatican congregation has stayed
so long in the same position. It was customary that Ratzinger would see the Holy
Father once a week to discuss whatever matters were important at that time.

They both
have “charisma” but of different sorts. Pope John Paul II was an actor on the
world’s stage, very outgoing and with a personal magnetism that was palpable.
But Pope Benedict, while quieter and more serene in his demeanor, also has a
warmth and a presence which all those who have come into contact with him have
remarked. I think that John Paul II, especially in his prophetic role,
proclaimed Christ to the whole world. Pope Benedict will do the same but I
believe he will turn his attention more towards the Church hierarchy. Just as
St. Benedict through his monasteries penetrated and informed a rising Christian
civilization in Europe, Pope Benedict will focus on the celebration of the Holy
Eucharist, on solemn and properly celebrated liturgies, so that the Church
herself will be better able to go forth into the world and be a light to the
nations.

Why do
you think Cardinal Ratzinger was chosen so quickly as pope?

Father
Fessio: I can only speculate on why Benedict was chosen so quickly but I do
think that the following elements had a role to play. In the synod which elected
John Paul II in 1978, all or virtually all of the cardinals hand ample
opportunity to get to know each other during the four years of the Second
Vatican Council which ran from 1962-1965. Therefore they had a much better
personal knowledge of their peers. However, with the expansion of the College of
Cardinals, and with the emphasis on new cardinals in far-flung parts of the
world, I think it’s true that going into the conclave most of the cardinals did
not know most of the other cardinals. In such an important decision, I doubt
that anyone, especially someone with experience in administration, would want to
elect someone who was not well known to him. Since cardinals get to know each
other when they come together, and that’s normally done in Rome, obviously
cardinals who are living in Rome or near Rome, and those visiting often in Rome
such as those in Italy and in Western Europe would know each other better.
They’d also have more access to each other’s writings. For these reasons I think
that the most likely candidates were in those groups.

But
Cardinal Ratzinger was certainly the best known of the cardinals. He was older
and he had published many books, spoken around the world, and acted in a very
public way as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Divine Faith.
He was also extremely respected even by those who disagreed with him. So, while
there was much suspense during the conclave, now that the choice has been made,
it almost seems like it was a necessity. Despite the fact that there were

cardinals
with wonderful qualifications, there really was no one that had his depth of
knowledge and experience, including experience with the Curial offices of the
Vatican.

Critics
have said that Benedict XVI is “backward looking” instead of “forward looking”
and that he is at heart opposed to the Second Vatican Council. How would you
respond to that charge?

Father
Fessio: Every Pope, and every Catholic, must be both backward-looking and
forward-looking. The truths of the Catholic Church are God’s message entrusted
to fallible human beings by God Himself through his Son Jesus Christ. Our Task
is to receive that message and contemplate it, appropriate it, explain it,
defend it and then pass it on intact. John Paul II did that. Cardinal Ratzinger
did that, as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and I
have no doubt that Pope Benedict XVI will do the same. As for the Vatican
Council, Pope Benedict was a theological peritus or advisor for the Council and
was very influential at the Council; he’s one of its architects. And he made it
very clear in his first public statement as pope the day after he was elected
that he fully supports the Second Vatican Council. He says powerfully: “I too
declare, as I start in the service that is proper to the successor to Peter,
wish to affirm with force my decided will to pursue to the commitment to enact [exsecutionem]
Vatican Council II, in the wake of my predecessors and in faithful continuity
with the millennia-old tradition of the Church [duorum milium annorum].? This is
a statement typical of Cardinal Ratzinger. He affirms in unmistakable terms that
he is a pope of the Council. But he also says that he is going to pursue its
implementation. The implication is that the Council has not been or at least has
not been fully implemented yet. Further, he affirms he will implement the
Council in continuity with the tradition. A clear statement that he does not
read the Council as a break with tradition but as an extension of tradition.

To those
wondering about the spiritual life of the new pope, do you have any insights?
Does he have any particular devotions to Mary, any other saints?

Father
Fessio: The Cardinal was born on Holy Saturday, and was brought by his parents
to the parish church and baptized at the Easter Vigil Mass. So he was born both
naturally and supernaturally in the midst of the great Paschal Mystery of the
Church. I’ve heard him say very candidly that his life has been liturgical from
the beginning; that he always feels nourished by the

Celebration of the Mass and the praying of the Divine Office. He admired his
fellow theologian von Balthasar for promoting kniende Theologie (kneeling
theology) and his works could not have been produced by a man who was not a man
of deep personal prayer. His devotions are Catholic devotions, to the saints,
but particularly to St. Joseph his patron, and of course to the Blessed Virgin
Mary.

Do you
know what his favorite foods are? What is his favorite music?

Father
Fessio: I don’t know what his favorite foods are but Mozart is his favorite
composer. While he leads a simple life, he’s a Bavarian who enjoys a good meal,
and he does love to listen to classical music. He also plays the piano.

Do you
have any personal stories about the new pope you can share with us?

Father
Fessio: There are many stories I could tell but let one suffice. He was asked by
a very skeptical and agnostic journalist, Peter Seewald for a book-length
interview. The cardinal, generous as always, agreed to this and made himself
available to answer all his questions, even (the most hostile ones. After that
experience) the results of which were published as “The Salt of the Earth”,
Peter Seewald became a Catholic! Later he did another book-length interview
which became God and the World. The man sarcastically called God’s rotweiler or
the panzer kardinal is a man who in real life can touch the hearts of the most
hardened skeptics. He has given his life and all his gifts to the service of the
Lord and the Church. And when he speaks he speaks with a power that comes from
beyond him but that works marvelously through him.